CSCI 203
Fall 2026
| Class (Section 04) | MWF 3 - 3:50 PM, BRKI 065 Prarielearn |
| Lab (Section L63) | T 10 - 11:50 AM, DANA 325 Prarielearn |
| Office Hour | Dana 338, via appointment |
| Schedule | Schedule, Due Dates, Materials |
| Syllabus | Syllabus |
| Textbook | Havill, Discovering Computer Science 3rd Ed. (requires Bucknell Login) |
Computation has become a fundamental mode of discovery in many different areas, from laboratory sciences to social sciences to literary analysis. In this course, we learn how to solve problems from these areas, and design computational solutions that are both elegant and efficient. We will express these solutions as computer programs written in a programming language called Python. We will also critically examine ways in which computing has affected human society and our shared responsibility to ensure that the power of computing is used appropriately. Absolutely no prior programming experience or computer science background is necessary.
Course Goals
Computing alters the way we engage with the world. It's more than code. Our goals are to:
- identify ways in which computing has become a powerful mode of inquiry
- recognize the broader impact of computation in the world,
- design simple algorithms to solve computational problems
- implement algorithms as computer programs in the Python programming language
- utilize abstraction (data and functional) to solve more complex problems
- recognize the importance of efficiency in algorithm design and assess the time complexity of simple algorithms